Wednesday, September 10, 2014

What the Tortoise Saw

13 comments:

Such a beautiful tortoise! I've never seen one with orange spots and dark pink eyes before. Do you know what kind of tortoise it is? (I deleted my first comment because, when I read it after it posted, it just made no sense. It's been one of those days...)

Actually, it's not a tortoise, I find. It's an Eastern Box Turtle. But it lives in holes in the ground and, as far as I know, doesn't swim. Males have red eyes, females brown -- I can't decide which this one is. Their undershell has a hing and they can pull their heads in and shut up like a box. Hence, I suppose, the name.

Vicki, judging by the bright orange coloration of the head and legs, I'd guess this to be a male. You can confirm this by turning him over and looking at the lower shell. Males have slightly concave plastrons, or lower shells. Apparently they couldn't get close enough to mate without that slight indentation. Jim

What a beautiful turtle! She saw flowers and colors, bright colors. Wouldn’t it be nice if we only saw flowers and bright colors in our lives? No war, no problems, no ISIS, no poverty, no greed, just colors and flowers? Your turtle has a charmed life.

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Who Am I? What Am I Doing Here?

I'm the author of The Elizabeth Goodweather Full Circle Farm Appalachian Mysteries from Bantam Dell. The series includes SIGNS IN THE BLOOD (LA MONTAGNE DES SECRETS in France), ART'S BLOOD, (LE SECRET DES APPALACHES in France,) OLD WOUNDS,IN A DARK SEASON (Anthony Nominee, Best PBO), and UNDER THE SKIN. There's also THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS (a spinoff/standalone)chronicling the unexpected life story of Miss Birdie, one of Elizabeth's neighbors.
Currently I have just completed a historical novel, dealing with a massacre in my county during the Civil War.
I came to this weird business late (my first novel was published in 2005) and am still trying to figure it out.
As my novels are set in a place much like my real life home, I thought I'd use this blog to share pictures of our farm and county. I've been blogging for nearly nine years now, on an almost daily basis, and the topics have ranged from writing, chickens, food, books, quilts, flora and fauna of all sorts, to the occasional tiny rant. There's no plan, but there are lots of pictures.
There's more information about me and my books on my web site: http://vickilanemysteries.com/